Riot in Ohio

On the news tonight two black rallies were reported. One, in Washington DC, was a 10-year anniversary of a million-strong march. I don’t recall the original event, and don’t know anything more about it (yet). The news report highlighted one speaker decrying racism in America, and the reporter (unfortunately) linked this to Hurricane Katrina. Whether the speaker or assembled masses intended such a link I don’t know, but I don’t really doubt it.

The other rally was a negative and less planned event. A white-power group staged a planned rally, and a large number of black people revolted. It got ugly, with rampaging and looting; even a vehicle that looked like an ambulance had rocks hurled at it. The reporter said the conflagration really started when police, who didn’t do anything about the “illegal” white-power rally, arrested or perhaps just interfered with a black person who was reacting to it in some (presumably anti-social) way.

Now, what to say about all this? Firstly, the white-power group is a disgrace and deserves strong condemnation for its beliefs and its public display of them. Secondly, the contribution of the black crowds to an ugly situation is understandable. The anger would be real and justified. Thirdly, the spreading of that ugly situation to include the destruction of public and private property – the property of people who had nothing to do with the rally – is disgraceful, and a poor reflection on the black community in that area. The neo-nazis are human trash, but they are a tiny minority and represent noone but themselves. The black community that rioted, however, represent misbehaviour on a grander scale. Although it’s suspected that much of the damage was done by smallish gangs taking advantage of the situation, it was the actions of the entire mob, presumably, that allowed the situation to escalate. The worst thing is that this display of black power, as it were, is self-defeating, because it’s the exact response that the neo-nazi animals probably wished to provoke, as if to prove a point.

How should the community react to a white-power rally? Well, if it’s illegal, as the news reporter said, it should have been forcibly stopped by police. It’s understandable, if regrettable, that the black mob took matters into their own hands because police didn’t act. However, one can take a step back and consider a different response: ignore them. The Nazis want a response; the most frustrating thing for them would be to not have an audience. If the community could rally together, as it were, and show these scum that their existence is not worth noting, let alone reacting to, then perhaps that would be the best outcome of all.

The other option is to perform a John Belushi move a la The Blues Brothers, in which Jake and Elwood Blues were held up by the Illinois Nazis marching on a bridge. Messrs. Blues were in a hurry, and … if you haven’t seen it, you really must.

Note: this piece was written without access to the facts of the case, and offers a general opinion only. There were probably more factors at play than I’ve accounted for.